I was 7 cm by the time I got to the hospital with zari. I had to waitbover 30 min or more to get the epidural from them, so I am pretty sure I could have just went the whole way. I was in a ton of pain though, but I wasn't trying any "techniques " since I knew I just wanted the epidural.

The only technique I can remember right off hand is using the big yoga ball but mine broke recently so I can't even do that if I wanted haha. My water broke before labor started so I didn't experience hard labor. This time could definitely be different! Never know!

The ball or tub look like they might help. I never got to try any of it. With lily they broke my water after I already had the epidural. With zari it burst on the dr when she came to check if it was time to push....it was lol. Before I got the epidural with zari, my contractions were so hard I thought I might throw up soon. I know a lot of people do. But maybe using some methods would have made it not so bad. Dh remembers seeing me in that much pain, and he really wants me to go to the hospital when things are looking like real labor, and get the epidural asap. I think me being in such pain freaks him out since he cant do anything about it.

The videos said the pain gets so intense that women can't comprehend anything going on other than the pain. That's when I was like no thanks!! I'm a wimp, I'll admit it. I'll do what I have to do though. Anything to bring my baby boy into the world healthy and happy!

Eesh... I'm not looking forward to delivery. I've tried to not let myself think about it, but time is flying by for me now that I'm not so sick and it feels like it's coming up fast!

For a while there, I was watching a lot of episodes of a baby story and Russ walked in one day at the end of an episode as the lady was screaming her head off and I was grimacing at the tv screen. He was like "WHY are you watching this?!" I told him I needed to be prepared, but all it really does is scare me lol.

Good to know lol. Speaking of classes, I probably should sign up for some. How long do they usually run? We need to save money where we can, so if that's something that can wait until closer to the end, that would be ideal.

It was like 4 classes, once a week, 2 hours each. Ours was like 30 dollars or something. Yeah its not absolutely necessary but I found it a great bonding experience and Scot was able to really understand what I was going through. We got to meet several other pregnant couples and the men got to have their time to talk and realize many things we were going through was normal. Like, no I wasn't the only emotional pregnant woman in the room and I wasn't exaggerating my symptoms. They got to feel more involved in the pregnancy and know what they could do to help and it was kind of stress relieving for him more so than myself because he had things on his chest that he was bottling up like money issues and fears of being a father, he felt it was easier to discuss it during the class rather than place the burden on me and I appreciated it because we weren't the only ones expressing those feelings and concerns. And I think you take the class in your 7th month so you wouldn't have to go right away but definitely check with whatever organization you're going through for dates, prices, guidelines. I really enjoyed the classes honestly even if I couldn't utilize the knowledge!

I think Russ could benefit, because there's no way he's going to read up on anything or do any research ahead of time. I'd rather have us receive information together so we're both on the same page instead of me trying to pass it along to him.

The hospital I deliver at offers classes, so check yours. You'd get a tour of the maternity ward too! I was contemplating signing Jadyn up for the sibling class this time but idk if she'd pay attention at all haha I'll consider it some more!